ORIGINAL ARTICLES

European and US publications in the 50 highest ranking pathology journals from 2000 to 2006

F R Fritzsche^1,2, B Oelrich^1,2, M Dietel^1,2, K Jung^1,2 and G Kristiansen^1,2

¹ Institute of Pathology, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
² Department of Urology, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Correspondence to:
Dr Florian Rudolf Fritzsche, Institute of Pathology, Charité Campus Mitte, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Florian.Fritzsche{at}charite.de

Aims: To analyse the contributions of the 15 primary member states of the European Union and selected non-European countries to pathological research between 2000 and 2006.

Methods: Pathological journals were screened using ISI Web of Knowledge database. The number of publications and related impact factors were determined for each country. Relevant socioeconomic indicators were related to the scientific output. Subsequently, results were compared to publications in 10 of the leading biomedical journals.

Results: The research output remained generally stable. In Europe, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain ranked top concerning contributions to publications and impact factors in the pathological and leading general biomedical journals. With regard to socioeconomic data, smaller, mainly northern European countries showed a relatively higher efficiency. Of the lager countries, the UK is the most efficient in that respect. The rising economic powers of China and India were consistently in the rear.

Conclusions: Results mirror the leading role of the USA in pathology research but also show the relevance of European scientists. The scientometric approach in this study provides a new fundamental and comparative overview of pathology research in the European Union and the USA which could help to benchmark scientific output among countries.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Fritzsche, F R, Kristiansen, G (2009). Influence of drinking habits of pathologists on publications. J. Clin. Pathol. 62: 288-288 [Full Text]  
• Wright, N A (2008). Misleading information on the drinking habits of UK pathologists. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 878-879 [Full Text]